Geforce Fx 5650 Go (solution)

[martin.christen]

It seems the current 4496 nvidia driver *does not* work with the FX5650 Go. Here is an alternate (unaccellerated) solution with the opensource driver. Hopefully NVIDIA will release a new version soon, until then you can use the current cvs nv driver:

=======================
Temporary way to get GeForce FX 5650 to run under Linux (Dell Inspiron 8600/GeForce FX5650 Go)
=======================
Using (slow but compatible) opensource nv driver


**Edit:
This workaround may not work with certain distributions. If you're using SuSE 8.2 for example, change inittab to 3 and start X manually (as root) with "xdm" or "startx"
**


(Step 1) Download binaries or compile Xfree86 and nv driver from current cvs
information about binaries/compatibilty is found at: http://www.xfree86.org/~alanh

Download Binary Files:
wget http://www.xfree86.org/~alanh/drivers/x86/XFree86
wget http://www.xfree86.org/~alanh/drivers/x86/nv_drv.o

!!!MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR OLD FILES FIRST!!!

cp XFree86 /usr/X11R6/bin
cp nv_drv.o /usr/X11R6/lib/modules/drivers

(Step 2) Edit Monitor/Modes/Device/Screen/Server Layout part of /etc/X11/XF86Config:

# Monitor section

Section "Monitor"

    Identifier  "dell-i8600"
    HorizSync   31.5 - 100
    VertRefresh 30-90
    UseModes    "16:10"

EndSection

Section "Modes"
        Identifier "16:10"
        Modeline "1280x800"  107.21 1280 1360 1496 1712 800 801 804 835
        Modeline "1280x800"  123.38 1280 1368 1504 1728 800 801 804 840
        Modeline "1280x800"  147.89 1280 1376 1512 1744  800  801  804  848
        Modeline "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087
        Modeline "1680x1050" 188.07 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1096
        Modeline "1680x1050" 214.51 1680 1800 1984 2288 1050 1051 1054 1103
        Modeline "1680x1050" 256.20 1680 1808 1992 2304 1050 1051 1054 1112
        Modeline "1920x1200" 246.59 1920 2064 2272 2624 1200 1201 1204 1253
        Modeline "1920x1200" 282.74 1920 2072 2280 2640 1200 1201 1204 1260
        Modeline "1920x1200" 337.58 1920 2072 2288 2656 1200 1201 1204 1271
EndSection

# Graphics device section

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "geforce-fx-5650"
    Driver      "nv"
    #VideoRam    131072
EndSection


# Screen sections

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "geforce-fx-5650"
    Monitor     "dell-i8600"
    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1920x1200" "1024x768" "800x600"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
EndSection

# ServerLayout sections.

Section "ServerLayout"

    Identifier  "Simple Layout"
    Screen "Screen 1"

    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"

EndSection


########################################## END

--Martin Christen
christen [at] algomedia [dot] com

[devotional]

Thanks a million, Martin! You really made my evening with this workaround.

Simply superb.

[wichers]

Thanks martin!!

I did have some stability problems with a 2.4 kernel. But now I'm running the latest 2.6 test kernel without any problems...

--sander

[SSonnentag]

Thank you so much, Martin! I had spent just about as much time as I could spare in trying to get the accelerated drivers working and had come to the conclusion that nvidia doesn't support the 5650 on Linux yet. So I was resigned to waiting for nvidia to release new drivers when I received your note on the Dell forum. Thank you again! Now I can squint away at my screen running SuSE 8.2. :P

Shawn

[biehl]

Thank you, you rock....(cruisin' @1680x1050)....

[WwonderLlama]

I may have been doing something wrong, but using the XF86Config information you gave (mine was XF86Config-4), X would start and give me a solid color screen (red, gray, or blue).

-- on a side note, if I hit the suspend button (the one that gets pressed when the LCD closes), when I released it, I could see about 1/3 of my X desktop centered on my LCD.

I ended up having to change the resolutions in the "Screen"/"Display" section to 1680x1050 (instead of 1024x768). That didn't help much until I removed all of the other possible resolutions. So, I was left with:
# ---snip ---#
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "geforce-fx-5650"
Monitor "dell-i8600"
DefaultDepth 24

Subsection "Display"
Depth 8
Modes "1680x1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 16
Modes "1680x1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
Subsection "Display"
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
ViewPort 0 0
EndSubsection
EndSection
# ---snip ---#
And, all appears to be well!

After 4 days of playing with config files, I've got widescreen goodness @ 1680x1050!

Thanks!

WL

[schizoid]

It appears that many people are plagued with this problem. I found at least 4 othet threads on the same topic:

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...hlight=5650+Go

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...hlight=5650+Go


http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...hlight=5650+Go

http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/show...hlight=5650+Go

Not only do I need the nvidia drivers to work, I also need the advanced shader features, so although the vesa/nv drivers will get the card working, they won't give the 3d acceleration etc.

Thus, another solution that might work (I haven't tried it yet) would be to run cygwin on XP, and use gcc to compile OpenGL code using the native windows opengl libs. I have talked to some of the cygwin folks and they say that this approach will work.

Does anyone here have any experience with this line of attack ?

[SSonnentag]

The previously released v1.0-4363 drivers work with the Dell Inspiron 8600 in accelerated mode. I'm running my laptop at 1920x1200, OpenGL works great, etc. See my page below for more details.

Shawn

Accelerated Inspiron 8600 Link

[olejacob]

Using the previous driver really works. Finally my Dell Inspiron 8600 is working 100%.

[biehl]

http://art.gnome.org/backgrounds/gnome/262.php

on my dell screen (with the nv-driver) I clearly see steps in the color gradient. Does this disappear with the nvidia drivers? (it is probably because the screen only has something like 18bit colors ~ 262k colors)

-Anders

[olejacob]

I can see some steps in the color gradient shown in the images you linked to when using the built-in LCD screen, but not when using my attached CRT screen. I'm using the nvidia driver.
-Ole Jacob